Letter to the House of Representatives supporting the No Child Left Inside Act (H.R. 3036)

June 18, 2008

Dear Representative:

On behalf of the National Education Association's (NEA) 3.2 million members, we urge your support for the No Child Left Inside Act (H.R. 3036), scheduled for mark-up in the Education and Labor Committee today. Actions in committee associated with these issues may be included in the NEA Legislative Report Card for the 110th Congress.

Our country is facing a host of well-documented, complicated environmental challenges that will require our citizenry to be more educated than ever before about our personal and civic choices. At the same time, we have seen a narrowing of school curricula, as schools are forced to spend more and more learning time preparing for high stakes testing. This trend is most exaggerated in the schools of our poorest communities.

NEA strongly supports the rich, challenging, authentic experiences that comprise environmental education for all children. Furthermore, we submit that in order to reach this goal, teachers and schools systems must have greater authority, flexibility, and support to incorporate environmental education into core subject areas. Additionally, states in partnership with LEA's and other stakeholders must develop plans to ensure that all children are provided the learning experiences they need to become environmentally literate.

The No Child Left Inside Act would help address these challenges. Specifically, it would expand the National Environmental Education Act by providing grants to:

Ensure that teachers have the have the necessary knowledge and skills to teach environmental education; and

Enhance state and national capacity for environmental education.

States that create environmental literacy plans detailing how all graduates will be environmentally literate will be eligible for this funding.

In 2008, environmental literacy cannot be a privilege reserved for a few; it is a right and a responsibility that every one of us must undertake. The No Child Left Inside Act represents a critical step in ensuring environmental literacy for all. We urge your support for this important legislation.

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